Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Can it be that it has been two whole years since I contributed a Theopolis Post! I had been pursuing the topic of integration: “Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World.” I had defined “integration,” simply, as creative putting together. I had posed that seeking it calls for a fundamentally integrative…
What is known as the miracle of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” occurs in Mark’s Gospel in chapter 6. As with other gospel writers, Mark has a few different points to make as he moves through this story (included in all four gospel accounts) and its surrounding material. Three…
To begin with the source of this narrative: Since no human being was present to observe these events, we must assume that this narrative was revealed directly by God to a human author. There are three ways this might have happened. First, we might read, "God said to Abraham (or…
The serious Bible student cannot help but be struck by the deviousness of Jacob in Genesis 27. If one already expected some underhanded dealings from this twin-born-second whose name means “supplanter” and whose bargaining with his brother for the birthright in Genesis 25 seemed incredibly weighted in his own favor,…
From Barna stats to mainstream headlines, it seems as though the discordant nature of this last year has taken such a toll on churches in the United States that, for many, the injuries have been fatal. It has become a regular occurrence to hear about a congregation that continues to…
In The Bad News Bears (1976), a city councilman hires a washed-up minor league baseball player with a drinking problem to coach a little league team of leftover misfits. Underdog sports movies are usually full of sentimentalism and dramatic victories, but this film is a commentary on the failing dream…
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JS Lawry says that Emma insults Miss Bates in an effort to liven up a dull party: “Like a virtuoso, she takes care that her art be equal to its occasions – but no more. Later, when a party seems dull, she will be brought to insult Miss Bates precisely…
David Southward suggests in a fascinating study of embarrassment in Austen’s novels, Emma “seems more concerned about ‘being looked at’ than she is about ‘doing wrong.’” When she holds a dinner party for the Eltons, it’s intended to avoid being “exposed to odious suspicions” that she is full of “pitiful…
David Southward suggests in a fascinating study of embarrassment in Austen’s novels, Emma “seems more concerned about ‘being looked at’ than she is about ‘doing wrong.’” When she holds a dinner party for the Eltons, it’s intended to avoid being “exposed to odious suspicions” that she is full of “pitiful…
Rousseau is not the only source of sentimentality in novels, the literature of sensibility. There are English resources, such as the free prayer tradition, which made spontaneity the test of sincerity. But Rousseau is one of the sources of this stylistic strategy, and a source that Austen would likely have…
Like Elizabeth Bennet, Emma Woodhouse’s desires for her man are awakened while exploring his property, Donwell Abbey with “all its appendages of prosperity and beauty, its rich pastures, spreading flocks, orchard in blossom, and light column of smoke ascending.” That this scene presents itself in Midsummer has been cause for…
Like Elizabeth Bennet, Emma Woodhouse’s desires for her man are awakened while exploring his property, Donwell Abbey with “all its appendages of prosperity and beauty, its rich pastures, spreading flocks, orchard in blossom, and light column of smoke ascending.” That this scene presents itself in Midsummer has been cause for…
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